Stirchley is a large village and suburb of the new town of Telford, in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. Stirchley lies just south-east of the town centre, and shares a parish council with neighbouring Brookside, which together have a population of 10,533 according to the 2001 census data It is close to Dawley and Malinslee and located next to the southern side of Telford town park. Although formerly a farming parish, it was incorporated into the Telford New Town in the 1970s. There are some important heritage sites in the parish, notably St James Church, Stirchley Hall, Stirchley Grange and the Stirchley Chimney, now a local landmark. A number of Stirchley's heritage sites are waypoints on the South Telford Heritage Trail. The former school was removed brick-by-brick and rebuilt at the nearby Blists Hill Victorian Town museum in 1993. History Growth of the settlement One of the most common historical units of administration between the 11th to mid-19th century were called hundreds (also known as wapentakes), and these were useful to reveal regional differences on a national scale over a large time period. Stirchley is part of South Bradford hundred in the district of Wellington. Stirchley was a small community based on agriculture. In 1612 the village was initially founded by 3 farms and 5 cottages, but as industry spread at the beginning of the 19th century, the population of the settlement grew to 333 in 1881, where it peaked. The population declined steeply until the 1940s, however not just the population, but the settlement has grown substantially since, particularly as the parish now includes Brookside, which neighbours Stirchley meaning the headcount for the census data is much larger. Until the 19th century, the parish only contained 4 main farmsteads and a small number of cottages nearby the church, but this changed when the population increased and affected the settlement pattern. Due to the industry taking place in the surrounding area houses were converted into cottages for the workers in the collieries and ironworks. Furthermore, after 1821 many more houses were being built including Clerks Row which was built in 1840 to house the ironwork's managers. The increasing size of the settlement led to a licensed ale house, named the Rose and Crown, and a village shop by the early 1840s. John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72) wrote of